President Goodluck Jonathan
A new report submitted to the United States Congress by the Secretary
of State John Kerry has alleged massive corruption at all levels of the
Nigerian government.
The document titled: "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for
2012" was prepared by the Department of State using information from US
embassies and consulates abroad, foreign government officials,
non-governmental and international organisations, and published reports.
Under the chapter on Nigeria in the latest report made available at the
weekend, Section 4, which deals with "Corruption and Lack of
Transparency in Government," states: "Massive, widespread, and pervasive
corruption affected all levels of government and the security forces."
Noting that though Nigerian law provides criminal penalties for
official corruption, the report said, "government did not implement the
law effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices
with impunity."
It also scored the judiciary low as its noted, "There was a widespread
perception judges were easily bribed and litigants could not rely on the
courts to render impartial judgements. Citizens encountered long delays
and alleged requests from judicial officials for bribes to expedite
cases or obtain favourable rulings".
Chronicling all major financial scandals within the period under review
and how the issues were handled by government, the report said: "On
April 18, a House of Representatives Committee led by Representative
Farouk Lawan and charged with investigating the fuel subsidy programme
from 2009 to 2011 released a report showing massive fraud, corruption,
and inefficiencies in the operation of the program. The report alleged
misappropriation of nearly half the subsidy funds, with poor or
nonexistent oversight by government agencies.
"The report estimated government money lost to “endemic corruption and
entrenched inefficiency” amounted to 1.067 trillion naira ($6.8
billion). The committee recommended reform of the oversight and
enforcement mechanisms and further endorsed investigation and
prosecution of culpable officials."
It further stated: 'In July the government released a list of those who
had benefited illegally from the subsidy programme, which included
relatives and colleagues of key government officials. In late July the
EFCC began arraigning suspects, first with a group of 20 indictments,
including six oil companies and 11 individuals.
"By year’s end the EFCC initiated prosecutions of approximately 50
cases related to the subsidy scam. The majority of these cases involved
companies and individuals who had fraudulently received subsidy revenue.
Investigations and trials had not produced any convictions by year’s
end."
It also recalled the twists in the subsidy probe, noting that in June
(2012) "allegations and a video surfaced, allegedly showing Lawan
accepting a 94.2 million naira ($605,000) bribe from entrepreneur Femi
Otedola, who had advised Lawan on the investigation but whose company
had not received fuel subsidy payments."
The report said: "After Lawan solicited the bribe from Otedola, the
latter approached the SSS to record the hand-off as part of a “sting”
operation. The attorney-general referred the case to the police for
further investigation. The allegations initially overshadowed the
committee’s findings, but the EFCC continued with investigations at
year’s end."
It also cited the stealing of 32.8 billion naira ($210 million) Police
Pension Fund, which led to the arraignment of six suspects including a
director at the Police Pension Office, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, who later
rose to become permanent secretary in the Ministry of the Niger Delta,
and the criminal charges against former Governor of Bayelsa State,
Timipre Sylva, for laundering close to five billion naira ($32 million)
of funds belonging to state.
Noting that the charges were instituted on February 24, 2012, the report said the court adjourned the trial until January 2013.
"The four (governors) allegedly misappropriated or stole 58 billion
naira ($372 million), 25 billion naira ($160 million), 18 billion naira
($115 million), and 12.8 billion naira ($82 million), respectively.
Their trials began in December 2011 and continued at year’s end", the
report noted.
It also cited the guilty plea entered by former Delta State Governor
James Ibori in the Southwark Crown Court in London to charges of money
laundering and other financial crimes totalling 12.4 billion naira ($79
million) he had committed during his eight years in office.
It, however, noted that, "Soon after the court announced Ibori’s
conviction, the EFCC issued a statement it intended to pursue a case
against Ibori in Nigerian courts."
On the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), signed into law in May 2011,
which allows any person to request information from a government office,
the report said "Civil society groups continued to introduce an
increasing number of cases at the national and state level to test the
FOIA during the year. Despite the number of cases introduced, there was
only one reported successful prosecution during the year."
The report also contained the controversy over declaration of assets by
Nigerian public officials noting statutory provisions that provide
that, "Public officials, including the president, vice president,
governors, deputy governors, cabinet ministers, and legislators (at both
federal and state levels), must comply with financial disclosure laws,
including the requirement to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct
Bureau (CCB) before assuming and after leaving office. Violators risked
prosecution, but cases rarely came to conclusion."
According to the report: "In June the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project and other groups demanded President Jonathan
disclose his assets from 2007 to 2012. On June 24, the president refused
the request.”
culled from www.thisdaylive.com
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